The Bad Plus | Boulder Theater | 10/31/05 | Review

The Bad Plus at the Boulder Theater Halloween night was a truly fun event. Taking the stage at 9:30pm the three piece Jazz band made up of Reid Anderson on bass, Ethan Iverson on Piano, and David King on drums settled on the stage in the glow of a warm red light. They opened up with the theme from the movie Halloween evoking light laughter from the audience. They continued to tease the Theme from Halloween through out the night.

They started by playing two new songs from their new album "Suspicious Activity?", the best of these being the political statement song "The Empire Strikes Backward". Like their first two albums the Bad Plus likes to cover unique songs. This evening they did the (Theme from) Chariots of Fire, also off of the new album, and a first time played "Live and Let Die" a very odd timed piece that brought smiles to all of the members playing on stage.

Of all songs played that evening I would have to say the new song "Rhinoceros is my Profession" would have to be my favorite. Along with an incredible bass solo and separate drum solo, the Bad Plus brought the sitting audience to the edge of their seats. The last song before the encore I do not know the name of, but was by far was the loudest, strongest, fascinating song of the night.

To me this group works better in a sit down setting than an open field. (see the good write up about them at Bonnarroo) There is a lot of comparison to an acoustic Medeski, Martin, and Wood, but this band has their own unique sound and should be a must see any time they come thru your town.